Iran Urges Japan to Release Billions in Blocked Funds Amid US Sanctions

Iran Urges Japan to Release Billions in Blocked Funds Amid US Sanctions
The Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (R) welcomes Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi for their meeting at the presidency office, in Tehran, Iran, on Aug. 22, 2021. Iranian Presidency Office via AP
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DUBAI—Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi called on Japan to release Iranian funds frozen in the country due to U.S. sanctions, Iranian state TV reported after the president met on Sunday with the visiting Japanese foreign minister.

Iran has been unable to obtain tens of billions of dollars of its assets mainly from exports of oil and gas in foreign banks, including $3 billion of its funds in Japan, due to U.S. sanctions on its banking and energy sectors. The sanctions were reimposed in 2018 after Washington abandoned Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers.